Germany detains 3 in alleged plot on Iraqi leader

Craig Whitlock, Washington Post

Published
4:00 am PST, Saturday, December 4, 2004

2004-12-04 04:00:00 PDT Berlin -- German authorities say they disrupted a possible plot to attack Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi during a visit here Friday, arresting three Iraqi men and conducting raids across the country several hours before his meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Investigators said they had found no explosives or weapons during the raids and revealed no details about the alleged plot. They said the arrests had been prompted by wiretapped telephone conversations that suggested an attack involving Allawi was in the works.

"We saw a considerable threat," German federal prosecutor Kay Nehm said at a news conference. "There were some signs that this was not something that had been planned for a long time, but that it was an ad hoc decision to do something because of the visit."

Police arrested three men whom they described as members of Ansar al- Islam, an Islamic militant group based in the Kurdish areas of Iraq. The group has been active in Germany and other European countries in recruiting volunteers to fight U.S. troops in Iraq.

Ansar al-Islam is allied with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant whose forces have asserted responsibility for numerous beheadings in Iraq and some of the deadliest attacks against the U.S.-led coalition. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for his capture.

Investigators did not identify the three suspects, who are scheduled to appear in court today on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization. They were arrested during a series of nine raids in Berlin and two southern German cities, Augsburg and Stuttgart, officials said.

Allawi canceled a Thursday night meeting with Iraqi exiles on the advice of German authorities, who noticed a sudden change in the behavior of the suspects under surveillance, Nehm said.

The Iraqi interim prime minister met with Schroeder as scheduled Friday in Berlin to discuss German aid for rebuilding the war-torn country. The meeting occurred amid unusually tight security, including several blocked-off streets near the German chancellery.